A new standard is currently being developed to support high-speed optical communications over “legacy” multi-mode optical fibers exceeding lengths of 200 meters, where data transmission rates can exceed 10 Gbps. This standard is known as 10GBASE-LRM, where LRM denotes “Long Reach Multi-Mode”. Some details concerning the new LRM launch standard may be found in the “Serial EDC Proposal for 10GBASE-LRM,” a copy of which is submitted on even date herewith in the accompanying Information Disclosure Statement, and which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Existing legacy multi-mode fiber generally has too low of a bandwidth to permit the transfer of a clean 10 Gbps signal through optical fibers exceeding 200 meters in length. The LRM standard requires recovering information from a noisy received signal by compensating for the dispersion introduced by legacy multi-mode fiber through the use of appropriate signal processing techniques (i.e., deconvolution). An important part of guaranteeing the success of data recovery is to control carefully how an optical signal is launched into a legacy multi-mode fiber optic cable by an optical transmitter. The LRM standard requires that a sharply focused, single-mode quality optical spot be presented to the input face of the legacy multi-mode fiber optic cable in order to guarantee data link success.
What is needed is a system, device and method for launching optical communications signals into a legacy multi-mode fiber optic cable that permits high-speed, accurate data transmission at a reasonable cost.
Various patents containing subject matter relating directly or indirectly to the field of the present invention include, but are not limited to, the following:
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The dates of the foregoing publications may correspond to any one of priority dates, filing dates, publication dates and issue dates. Listing of the above patents and patent applications in this background section is not, and shall not be construed as, an admission by the applicants or their counsel that one or more publications from the above list constitutes prior art in respect of the applicant's various inventions. All printed publications and patents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by referenced herein, each in its respective entirety.
Upon having read and understood the Summary, Detailed Descriptions and Claims set forth below, those skilled in the art will appreciate that at least some of the systems, devices, components and methods disclosed in the printed publications listed herein may be modified advantageously in accordance with the teachings of the various embodiments of the present invention.